The perks are not the problem, the gameplay is the issue (a few perks are a problem though)
Hello,
I have some feedback about the perk overhaul that is intended to release in the summer.
I want to start by saying that the charts shown in the news article did not surprise me. The problem isn't the perks that are used constantly (apart from about 4), but the gameplay that enforces the use of these perks in order to increase the odds of getting multiple sacrifices as killer and escape as survivor. As a player that is playing both killer and survivor pretty evenly (killer only for the bloodpoints, to be honest; killer seems unplayable and unfun for me).
The gameplay of the survivor relies on generators being done as quickly as possible. Since efficient teams tend to spread out and complete generators alone (this is what I see good survivors do), the killer doesn't have enough time to find a survivor, chase them, down them, hook them and look for another survivor, without doing unfun strategies like camping, slugging and tunneling.
Barbecue & Chili is basically required to find a killer's next "victim" on some killers, Tinkerer is required to know which gens should be kicked using Pop Goes The Weasel to buy some time and all the gen regression perks like Ruin, Pop, Pain Resonance etc. are mostly used because of the speed at which good survivors do gens. We tend not to cooperate on generators, to spread as much pressure as possible to the killer. In return, the killer has to slug, camp, tunnel and use gen regression perks.
Corrupt Intervention is required on setup killers like Hag and Trapper.
On the survivor side, Dead Hard is used because it is considered "the fixer of mistakes". If you remove the invulnerability aspect of the ability, the games will be more smooth. Dead Hard is so used that killers play around dead hard until they know a survivor has another exhaustion perk.
Borrowed Time is required against camping killers (except against Bubba, since he can use his chain sweep and down both survivors as soon as the hooked survivor is requed. They are hit once, and then a second time shortly after. What I would like to see is an instant Endurance status effect on unhook to the unhooked survivor for 10 seconds, with Borrowed Time offering some other kind of effect to the rescuer, maybe the same effect?
DS and Unbreakable is used mainly in case the killer decides to do a 4-man slug or tunnel a person (or 2) out.
No one escapes death and boon: circle of healing are the only truly problematic perks. NOED basically can turn the game for a new killer and go from 0 hooks to 4 kills, which is not fair to the survivor side. On the survivor side, Boon: Circle of Healing is offering easy access to healing. I think the healing mechanic overall should be changed. Medkits should be used to heal others faster, but they are instead used to heal the owner of the medkit.
The rest of the perks are fine or used because they are unlocked from the start. The only exception is A Nurse's calling which is mostly used because of the healing meta. Windows Of Opportunity is mainly used in SoloQ and by new players to learn where pallets and windows are.
With the exception of the perks mentioned, I don't see a need to change anything else that is commonly used. Instead, I suggest changing the perks in the middle of the least by boosting the values a bit, while reworking the perks that are underperforming or useless (like Poised from Jane, for example).
For the time being, maybe a change to Boon: Circle of Healing to provide a passive healing at a rate of 1 health state over 40 seconds, with the timer being paused during active healing. I am saying 40 seconds since in that time, the survivor can work on a generator or be in a chase.
Gameplay wise, I think gens go too fast when a killer plays against good and experienced survivors, therefore, I suggest the following changes:
1. Move the cooperation penalty to a global mode, decreasing the speed of all survivors working on any generator by 15% if there are 2 survivors on gens, by 30% if there are 3 survivors on gens and by 45% if there are 4 survivors on gens.
2. Remove the repair speed boost from any perks that provide multiple stats increase (Spine Chill, Resilience, Object of Obsession).
3. Change Prove Thyself to provide a 15% reduction to the global penalty to the owner of the perk while cooperating with other survivors. The effect would be multiplicative, not substractive. Meaning that 2 survivors working on gens will give the owner of the Prove Thyself a 2.25% penalty reduction.
4. Change toolboxes to provide a "point of no return" value to generators, instead of repair progress. The point of no return would prevent a generator from decaying below a certain threshold, which is 1 charge per second + whatever speed increase the toolbox has. Brand New Parts would add 15% over 5 seconds + 5% per skill check to the "point of no return" value instead of actual repair speed.
5. Lower the values of gen regression perks by 20-30% to account for the changes discussed.
The effect of my proposed changes to gen repair speed is give more time and a fair match to killers and discourage slugging, tunneling and camping, which is unfun for both sides. This would naturally result in a decrease in the usage of META perks (except dead hard, of course).
The changes will also affect only good survivors and killers, which are very efficient.
Also, I would like to have the selfcare ability from medkits removed, and instead be only available when using selfcare. This will force players to group up and heal and boost up weak killers that rely on hit and run playstyles or M1 killers that rely on keeping survivors injured (Legion and Plague against teams that do not cleanse and deny her the ease of access to her corrupt purge).
Let's make DBD great again!!
Thanks for reading,
Mindbender
Comments